Chapter 9: Fight me, hold me
[WARNING: For all you kids out there who would like die in a treacherous explosion if Suigetsu ever kissed Yasha… don't get too angry with me. ^-^ The little scene in there is mostly to humor myself and my friend demonmuffinchan who seems to like SuixYasha more than SasuxYasha… Anyways, Yasha still hates him so don't worry. Enjoy! ^-^ ]
My head throbbed as I awoke in agonizing discomfort, my lungs and abdomen area burning as though they had been violently removed, then messily stitched back into place however in the wrong areas. All I could see past half lidded eyes was black and gray masses moving idly around that just faded out by blotches of red. Though in this pain I forced myself to sit up, propping my stinging body up on one elbow trying to keep myself upright. My weak arm failed me, wobbling dangerously from side to side until finally I collapsed on it however my landing was with ease as a hand held my back up carefully placing me back on the ground.
Some sound buzzed in the background, most likely a rant of words that my ears were incapable of sending to my fuzzy brain. My feeble attempts at opening my eyes to see who was nearby were quickly abandoned as pain shot through my forehead like daggers. I had no recollection of where I was, who I was with, and I only had a very vague idea on who I was. The only thing I knew at the moment was that the hand resting on my shoulder as though trying to pass on comfort was soothing at the touch. It almost made the pain sink away.
"…Three weeks…" I finally caught onto some words that actually made a bit of sense and wasn't entirely within the buzzing. Shortly after I had heard something comprehendible there was a feeling of wetness on my forehead, and it took a long time for my brain to realize it was a cloth.
I tried to say something to these people who were around me, but it came out as a bunch of slurred nonsense. I gave up on speaking after hearing the buzzing again and resorted to silence for a long time until I felt the water drying up on my forehead, taking most of the pain with it. My head stopped throbbing, but my body was still unbearably weak.
"…Wh-wheres…" I struggled to say, and before I knew it I let out a name un-intended, "…S-Sasuke…?" The hand on my shoulder slid off which was followed by some murmuring that I was still having a hard time understanding.
"I'm right here," a deep voice said seemingly close to my ear. It sounded familiar but I had no clue why, and it also had slipped clear of my mind who this Sasuke was. I couldn't connect a face to a name or a name to a voice.
It all came rushing back in one big avalanche as soon as I got a suspicious poke on the nose. I remembered Suigetsu poking me, Karin making me bite her hand, Sasuke waking me up, seeing his face while being carried over Kisame's shoulder, the tsukuyomi torture…Even letting it cross my mind in a passing just brought the un wanted pain back.
"unh…" a small moan of discomfort escaped my mouth as my body seemed to be put in flames as the temperature rose dramatically. After the little distressed moan I felt a hand rest itself on my cheek. The touch felt familiar…
I heard a sigh, "she's burning up again…" it was the same voice as before, it was Sasuke speaking. Upon saying this, his hand was removed from my face but I shook my head as best I could as though requesting it came back. I … liked the way his hand felt on my skin. It comforted me, to know there was one person who finally cared for me; however his hand did not come back yet was replaced by the cloth once more wet with cold water.
"…where are we…" I managed to choke out after finally getting my weary eyes open.
"We got you to an inn outside Amegakure, You've been out cold for about three weeks," A voice informed that I recognized to be Juugo's though I hadn't heard him much in conversation. It was usually just Suigetsu and Karin arguing.
"Three…" I repeated back weakly, "h-how…h-how am I still…"
"Alive?" Suigetsu suggested, "well, if it wasn't for me you'd still by lying at the bottom of a—GAH!" a punching sound was following, most likely why he wasn't able to finish his sentence.
"It was Sasuke who did it, stop running your mouth!" Karin angrily corrected.
In the midst of their fighting I started to withdraw again, the little emotions I was feeling were getting sucked back in to that black hole in my heart and I received my thoughts once more about being alone. Despite the pain vibrating everywhere in my body I pulled myself to my feet and started to stumble off in some unknown direction. Then the world started spinning again, my footing wasn't right, the ground seemed to slip out from underneath me and I toppled over.
Somebody caught me before I made it even halfway to the ground and it took a few seconds until the blackness went away that I was able to see Sasuke who was holding me in place.
"…where do you think you're going?" He asked, glaring down at me dangerously as though he was threatening me for trying to walk.
I attempted to return the glare but it was thrown aside as more pain seared through my head and I winced. There were a few things I thought about saying to Sasuke and one of them was to let me go, but then I was more curious about how he managed to defeat those two Akatsuki members. Was he really that strong?
Throwing aside what he had asked prior, I spoke up weakly, "…I want to fight you…"
"You're too weak to even walk, and you want to—"
"Yes," I cut in, stabilizing myself and staring straight up at his blank expression.
Everyone else was utterly silent, even the one whom I was challenging. It was as though you could have clicked your tongue and people in the hallway could've heard it, until finally, "That would be a waste of time." Sasuke decided, grasping onto my arm as I sunk to the ground courtesy of the pounding headache.
"…When I am able to …" I winced again, "…move…"
"A waste of time, I will not fight you Yasha," Sasuke said sternly guiding me back over to lay down so I wouldn't end up getting injured more.
It was silent afterwards for a good few minutes before Juugo finally stood up, "I think we should leave Yasha alone to rest…its better she recovers quickly without us as a distraction." I wasn't able to see much but I was able to hear Karin's agreement and the sound of everybody else standing up. The door squeaked as it opened, and it thumped as it shut, then all was quiet once more; Other then that one, single, cocky voice that I didn't want to hear.
"So it hurts you to move, neko?" Suigetsu asked the footsteps indicating his approach beside me, and it didn't take much brain to understand that he was now kneeling at my side. I opened my eyes slightly to stare plainly at the white haired boy beside me now getting too close for comfort.
"…" No reply from me just bored stares as a result of his face getting closer to mine. My hand came up pushing against his chest warning him to get away from me. Suigetsu ignored my warning by grabbing onto my hand and pulling it away.
"You know, we were all scared for you," Suigetsu said flashing a shark toothed grin as he held himself above my body completely and I was far too weak to do a single thing about it.
"…You are too close," I said, trying to push him away but it was a useless attempt, Suigetsu was simply too much for the current strength I had.
"I have a question for you Neko," Suigetsu ignored what I requested his face now becoming somewhat serious if it wasn't for the playful look I could still sense traces of, "You like Sasuke right?" That was something I was unsure of myself, so how could I possibly be able to answer a question like that.
"…No."
That serious facial expression disappeared in exchange for a smirk, "good."
I continued to stare at him in my usual way, blank, not smiling or frowning, blinking very rarely when doing this. There was no confusion or frightened look being reflected, just solid as though somebody were staring back at a wall. Still as Suigetsu continued to get closer I kept the same expression, maybe closing my eyes by a fraction of an inch and sinking back, however not much else changed.
"In that case, you're free for me, huh neko?" Suigetsu asked as though he were trying to get me to crack, whispering it near my mouth. Nothing.
"I am for nobody," I replied normally which for some reason seemed to make something click in his head like this gave him permission to… kiss me. Upon said action, it was done, and I had absolutely nothing to say that could make somebody believe otherwise.
I do not know what to think when people discuss angels. Is there such thing as a pure being, perfect as light, formed from the very palm of God? A protector to guide and clear a path for someone who is in desperate need of help, do they exist? It is possible they do, and it is just as possible to say that they do not. Maybe the spirit of an angel can be shown through the actions of other's around us, the other's who will save us, guide us so that we are safe from harm. If that be the case, many would agree Sasuke is my angel; my guardian.
The door flashed open moments later, "Suigetsu!" doing what those angel's do; there was Sasuke to protect me.
Suigetsu, startled at the sudden entrance of the Uchiha rolled off my frail body, "Hey Sasuke, something wrong?"
Still weak from the pulsing headache I wasn't able to see that far but I could sense a very dark aura coming from where the door was. I heard Sasuke step to the side, "Go."
"Really, who died and made you boss?" Suigetsu rolled his eyes putting his hands up innocently like 'I don't know why I need to leave,' but even so he strolled right out of the room closing the door behind him.
Sighing and trying to let that incident slip my mind I didn't notice Sasuke walking up beside me and sitting right to my left, staring the way he normally would however was hesitating with something.
"Are you alright?" he questioned. Still staring up at the ceiling it didn't take too long to come up with an answer.
"I suppose," it was meaningless, as always. For somebody like me who was always turned away, my mind was impervious to this kind of behavior. A real human who was concerned for my very being was sitting only a foot away from me, yet I was so close minded it was hopeless to believe I could see it.
Sasuke was very reticent for the following minutes before speaking again.
"You should sleep," he instructed, "you are still injured."
"…I am fine…there is nothi—" Sasuke flicked a certain spot on my stomach before I could end my sentence and it stung like nothing I had felt before. The sting felt almost similar to a stab received from tsukuyomi. I groaned in pain, not expecting that.
"There were multiple sword wounds. I'm not sure how I missed them, but the cuts and blood appeared later. You are in no condition to do much other than rest," he said after I had caught my breath staring down at my stomach. If I remember correctly, I was never physically touched with a weapon during that battle, and tsukuyomi shouldn't have been able to realistically hurt me.
Finally succumbing to what Sasuke said, I closed my eyes and drifted off to a place where this never happened. Sleeping did bring dreams… dreams brought back memories.
"Come on Yasha, just once more," the smiling face of Oita sensei encouraged as a target was placed at the very top of a 50 ft tall tree. It was slashed in all different area's as he instructed me to mark where I had fallen each time.
"H-hai, sensei…" I panted leaning up against said tree. "Just…just a little break?"
"Alright, but for each minute you take you have to turn that into money and pay for dinner tonight!" Sensei said as he faked sighed, looking up at the sky like he was wondering if I would pay for him entirely.
A small smile crept across my lips, "No way Oita Sen!" feeling as though my strength was restored I backed up, focused on sending all chakra to my feet and sprinted all the way back up. I was only 5 feet away before I lost concentration. There was a bird's nest resting higher up in the branches, and in it were four baby blue jays, and then one cardinal who looked on guard for the babies. I was put at ease at that, though I had been separated from my parents it was still a nice thought. Kind of reminded me of Sensei.
Watching these birds caused my chakra to dissipate, and I fell but not before making a slash on the thick bark with a kunai. I landed on my feet at the very bottom.
"Come on Yasha you were so close, what happened?" Oita asked, shaking his head but grinning anyways.
"There was a bird's nest!" I informed happily pointing up to where I had seen the birds.
"…yes…and?"
"Well, I was thinking, they're kind of like you and me!" I said, "The blue jay parents aren't there…something must have happened." There was a sparkle in my eyes.
"Why is that making you happy?" Oita asked, stunned as he stared back at my face. Normally this thought would depress me, but at the moment it didn't.
"There is a different bird watching over them, that is protecting them even though it would be odd to anyone else…that bird is you, and the baby bird is me!" I giggled at sensei's thoughtful face, nodding at what I was implying.
"Very good Yasha…The parents aren't there, so there is someone to fill their place, a protector," he said patting my head in that way he always did when I got something correct.
"You'll protect me, right sensei?" I looked up at the brown haired jonin who blinked a few times before he responded.
"As long as I can."
"You promise?"
"Yeah… I promise. Now back up that tree!" Oita nearly threw me back up the tree, neither of us knowing that the promise was soon to be broken.
The dream faded out and was replaced with one of my most distressing memories.
I hid in a tree, dressed in all black as I would have been beaten if I tried to show my face down at the funeral. I could watch it from this areal view, I could see Oita's casket down below as people approached to pay their respects. That was my sensei, that was my friend, and he went off and got killed on a mission.
Tears ran down my face. Now I had nobody to go to, no one to smile at, no one who could be as accepting as he was. He broke his promise, saying he'd be there for me. If I couldn't trust that then there was nobody I could trust anymore.
I couldn't even stay around the funeral any longer, People below probably felt the tears dripping off my face, and so I left; Shrouded in darkness, heart broken into a million little pieces that could never be found again.
I woke up to these dreams, a line of tears running across my cheeks while more crowded up in my eyes. Crying in my sleep wasn't unusual, but I never did enjoy waking up to it. Bad memories and I couldn't withstand emotions in my sleep, it was nearly impossible.
Then I noticed something was in my hand, and when I glanced downwards I saw Sasuke's hand held in mine, our fingers loosely entwined but when I looked up I saw him sleeping as well. Had I grabbed onto his hand in the midst of my terror, or had he held onto mine when seeing distress? Either way I was not fighting against it, in fact I was slightly troubled that if I went back to sleep I would be pulled back into the past, into the darkest points in my life. For some odd reason, I began to feel that if I was closer to Sasuke then I wouldn't dream that way.
Wiping away the fallen tears I shifted closer to his side so that my face was buried against his shoulder, got a better grip on his hand while wrapped my other hand around his arm and slowly drifted back off to sleep, so content like this that I didn't notice the smirk forming on the Uchiha's lips. I didn't notice he was really awake.
[ *hiding from all the Sasuke fangirls* Don't harm me i swear im innocent! Attack Yasha, its her fault!
Yasha: *glares all the fangirls to death* :D
Okay I lied, don't attack her if you value your life D:
Well yeah, soooo that was another chapter...definately came out quicker than the last one, right? ^/^ hope you liked it! ]
